With Half-Life fans making love to copies of The Orange Box everywhere, Valve is now turning our attention to the final installment of its current Freeman-flavored story arc. As the final chapter of the Half-Life 2 series, Episode Three is looking to end the series with a bang, as Valve confirms.
"We're going to try and do something pretty ambitious for that project," stated Valve's David Speyrer. Unlike with Episode One, Episode Two didn't come with a trailer for the next and final installment. Speyrer stated that this was because the company didn't want to commit to anything yet.
"If you look at the Episode Two trailer that we shipped with Episode One there's some pretty radical difference between what you see there and see in finished game," Speyrer explained. "That's really an artefact of making a trailer for a product that's still in heavy production. You just don't know where you're going to end up."
I've not reached the episodic parts of Half-Life 2 yet, but fans are eager to point out that the franchise only improves the more it continues. If Valve is looking to top its already much loved and applauded prequels, then we're in for a complete and utter treat.
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Contest:
10:08 AM on 11.10.2007
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Does this mean no more half life games after Ep3? Or are they just going to finish the current story arc
its gonna take even longer for episode 3 to come out than episode 2, and episode 2 had a long time coming. lest we forget, the longer the waiting period is for a valve game, the better the game. simple math.
yeah, because the gap between half life and half life 2 was non existent.
i don't understand your sarcasm
....is it done yet?
Seriously though, those are some hella durable glasses. I need me a pair.
After Episode 3 they will make wicked powerpoint graphs and bars with surveys to their costumers to see how they will work in the future.
I am pleased with their approach, it did take a bit after HL2 for the first episode to come out in 2007. But it would take more if they made a HL3. And this year we got the second one.
Having new HL2 adventures each year is more than enough for me.
I think this is stemming from a problem why no one likes you. You don't like anything, therefore, are unable to be receptive of our love for you, so in return, we shower you with equal hate.
like i said. i say something, and i get personally attacked on here. it is the way of bloggers.. oh well. waste your hate on me.. :)
Was that enough hate? :D
I'm not that in to Half Life myself, its just not my cup of tea (I do love TF2 though)... but calling Valve's games 'over hyped', made by a 'bunch of slow guys' is disrespect that should only be reserved for the 3d Realms and Guerilla Games of the world.
Also, I think part of the reason Episode 2 took so long was because they released TF2 and Portal with it.
@13 That aside, Yatzee's video blog critiques get taken with a grain of salt. Yes episodic content is expected to be frequent but then again an epic novel or movie series takes a long time to produce. Just the facts of developing quality.
Give us bigger boxes to move with the grav gun? Kill more characters? Have Freeman speak? Give us more mindbending puzzles like finding cinder blocks? More shitty vehicle sequences?
I can't wait to see what they do with the physics engine, the game will probably be a distant thing in the mind of these guys. Give me more puzzles that react like they would in real world.
Lord knows how far it is and the hype train has already begun, its gonna be as shitty as HL2 and its episodes where yet its still gonna sell a gajillion copies and heaps praise will be showered upon it, I will truly never understand Half Life.
What do you think the highest scored game is overall?
No, it's not Final Fantasy and it's not Halo (despite my love for it). It's Half-Life 2. That says something. The fact that everyone collectively said, this shit is awesome.
And I know you're still bearing the scars left by a certain someone from Valve calling the PS3 a waste of everyone's time. I know it burns, baby, but we must move on.
And now I wait for your conspiracy theories. Valve must of paid everyone off, right? Even me.
that will eventually happen. that you can purchase anything online, and have it in an instant. for ep:3 though, not sure. but we're going there, definitely
Dude, take a look around at everyone else. Notice how almost no one is getting hated on? Except you? Yeah, it's because you've been a fanboy dick for as long as you've been here. Stop hating and everyone else will eventually stop hating back. I don't really have anything personal against you, I just wish you were a little more fair and a little less obnoxious. Whatevzzzz.
These types of games are so rarely seen because most developers won't put the time and effort in. It's somewhat saddening that when a company DOES put that kind of energy and time into a title, it gets mocked for it. Pretty sad indeed.
I think you mis-clicked somewhere and ended up lashing out about something else, maybe Jericho or the Haloz. Cant imagine the kind of game that'd meet your standards of story, game play or quality. In the sea of 'shitty' that is so much of the game industry, there isn't a lot out there to match the series value for value.
If you go back and look at the system requirements for HL, then HL2, and then Orange box, I can honestly say you would need to have a new system for each game pack to maximize the experience (and perhaps even a technology refresh for the HDR in Lost Coast). Because we aren't all rock-star quality game developers, or Nintendo, where people just toss money at our feet, and our PC's in the real world don't just evolve like a they been hit by the AllSpark, we have to fuel the constant upgrade cycle with blood, sweat and cold hard cash.
The length of the development cycle always seems just long enough for it to rely upon a new technology that is equivalent to a whole day worth of this work they require you do in order to craft the cash, or worse still, the investment in an entire new system (even for system builders, no cheap feat, try level grinding your way up to that one). The whole time, the console set just gets new game after new game, only having to move to a better seat to enjoy the next installment of a game. Heck, up to and including my PS3, all my consoles combined haven't cost as much as the last 2 computers I've built for myself.
In the end, the issue is a mixture of normal human impatience (i.e. we all gots it) and the rareness of cash as a standard drop from killing the local monsters (did you know that rats DON'T really carry gold coins?), as well as a splash of "Attempt to maximize profit, including profit potential, while minimizing expenditure across the bottom line. At the same time, dissolving the risk of longterm development in the assurances of a Triple-A class title, associated media blitz and maintaining a shallow pool of employees"... or something of the sort.
anyway...hope it is the right release date...and not '09 :D